Choices
by Fayah
Summary: Midoriya Hisashi is under investigation for his ties to the villain "All For One." Midoriya Izuku just really /really/ wants to be a hero. [Izuku has All For One AU]
1. Chapter 1

The whole _case_ was bizarre. Naomasa had been skeptical since his induction into the whole case - the thought of a quirk that could steal quirks _permanently_ was absurd even by the standards of their increasingly evolving society. And the idea that the user of such a quirk had remained elusive for hundreds of years, directing Japan's criminal underground? Naomasa had felt he was being inducted into a conspiracy group more so than a formal criminal investigation.

There had been years of investigations on the whereabouts of the mysterious villain dubbed "All for One" leading up to this: a raid on a seemingly ordinary household in the heart of suburban Musutafu.

It sickened Naomasa to think that such a villain or his associates were anywhere near an area full of innocent civilians. That the villain could have been the cause of the suspicious increase in the local phenomena known as "quirk regression" in which kids, who had just newly discovered their quirks, found themselves unable to harness those same quirks weeks later.

Scientists had theorized it was the children's own quirk factors shutting themselves to protect the strain on their body, but their investigations suspected otherwise. The strings of coincidences had just piled too high. The children could all be linked to quirk counselors stemming from the same practicing group, whose finances were bizarre.

They had impeccable reviews as a privately funded group that provided low cost care to anyone who needed it, which in itself seemed like a noble effort...until one stopped to wonder how such a group had multiple offices in _every prefecture_ of Japan. The operation put the government's own efforts on handling the increasing needs of a quirk-heavy society to shame. It was hailed as a glowing example of the private sector doing what the government could not dream to achieve. And yet it was notoriously hard to track down where funding for the group even came from despite the vast amount of wealth required.

They had traced shell company after shell company, suffered through surprisingly dodgy statements from the more legitimate sources of money, and had been desperate enough to even tail a few of the more prominent members of the group. All this had led them to here: a humble two story household belonging to a newly wed couple that drew wild speculation from the neighborhood on account of how private the occupants tended to keep their lives.

Well...that wasn't exactly true. Midoriya Inko was the talk of the neighborhood.

A kind, vibrant, round-faced woman from humble, local origins who had taken a break from her corporate life to nurse her even rounder belly. She always had her door open to anyone who would want to talk, much to the chagrin of her more elusive, private husband. It was local consensus that Inko would be a great mother and excitement was building on the block for the arrival.

Midoriya Hisashi was the true mystery: a figure in the corporate world who played on the sidelines but was speculated to be as wealthy as any of the more prominent financial players of their economy. He was a lesser known backer of the Quirk Counseling Initiative, and the government had hoped by obtaining and tracing his communications, they could be a step closer in tracking down the quirk user known as All for One.

They had tried to be as discreet in planning this raid as possible. Midoriya Hisashi had been described as a mild mannered man by the few who knew him, but his quirk - "Hot Breath," could easily be used to cause destruction to both the agents in the operation and the very evidence they were after. So they had kept a watch on Inko's pregnancy and used the hour of the couple's departure to the hospital for contractions as the perfect time to strike.

The operation had gone smoothly at first. The front door went down easily with an enhanced punch, but when they had gone upstairs to Hisashi's study to seize his records, they had found more pictures of the newly wed couple than actual financial records. And when they had tried to secure his computer - _it had self destructed_.

Never let it be said Hisashi Midoriya was not a paranoid motherfucker.

The operation went downhill from there. The agents who had been assigned to secure Hisashi at the hospital for questioning had gone off the grid. When a second team was dispatched to check what the hell was going on, they had received grim news.

Midoriya Inko had died in childbirth while pro heroes were scrambling trying to evacuate the hospital on account of a massive, unexplained power outage. The silver lining in the whole scenario should have been that Midorya Hisashi had, surprisingly, not fled the scene when surrounded by government agents calling for his detention. They were able to secure him on the premise with a crying newborn in his arms, but the ice cold look on his face made the team uneasy for understandable reasons. He was threatening the legal destruction of everyone involved in this fiasco.

This case had been a veritable disaster, and, the worst part was, Naomasa had a hunch that the real disaster was just beginning.

* * *

Hisashi's reserve that day surprised himself. Quite frankly, he had been sorely tempted to just let the hospital burn in flames so he could mourn in peace without the annoying buzz of Japan's government trying to chase his trail.

But 200 years and a baby in his arms had done wonders for his patience to make the longer, the _better,_ play

And really, it was his mistake. Something he hated to admit, but he couldn't deny his part in it. He had been careless. The pregnancy had been going so smooth and he had found himself distracted by his wife's infectious excitement.

 ** _"Hmm...how about Izuku? It could be a nod to your name, with the Kanji," she giggled, because she was alway one to love tiny details like that._**

Him. A father.

How had he never considered it before in his 200 some years of existence?

His brother had died before leaving behind any family. And he...he never cared for such thing. Not after the pain it had caused him before. But he hadn't realized how lonely he had grown over the years, until he met Inko.

 ** _"M-me? Y-you're proposing to me?" She startled, sheets of paper darting from her desk by her quirk to further cover her beat red face that was already being covered with her hand. It was endearing really. He could have sworn her quirk was making his heart want to jump out of his chest towards her as well._**

She was fierce and honest to a fault, but also a woman of contradictions. She would argue wholeheartedly for increased funding to a program one second and stutter over her own name the next. She was a mix of idealism and pragmatism whose efficiency in the office was second to none, and she had somehow caught his attention before he knew it. She had noticed him despite his efforts to lay low in his own company, luring him in with lunch boxes and debates on anything from the current hero system to the needs for better research on quirk development on the psychology of children.

 ** _"-much too skinny," she had chided, pushing a bento to his hands. "Do you even eat? How are you supposed to take over the world on an empty stomach, Mr. company boss?"_**

Really, at first, he had wondered if she was someone trying to climb the company ladder by nudging shoulders with management, but it was easy to see she didn't have that in mind. He didn't need a mind reading quirk to know that Inko was so much more than that.

And now, she was dead.

He should have realized the risks of passing down his genetics. When her vitals had started to collapse during the contractions, he had pulled every quirk in his capacity to analyze what was going wrong. And he could see what none of the doctors could.

There was a quirk being activated. Not from any of the doctors, but from _the baby_.

Quirk manifestation at birth had been both common and dangerous in the early years of the quirk era. The first quirk discovered was a glowing baby, after all. But the expression of quirks at birth placed a great strain on the baby and mother.

To his knowledge, his own quirk had not manifested at birth, much like many of the later quirks that mutated to manifest at a later date to avoid any risk to their own propagation. However, as an early generation mutation, his inheritable quirk factor was much more likely to mutate as a birth manifestation than hers.

He should have known.

 ** _"I'm feeling a bit more tired lately," she had said, placing a hand on her stomach. "Little Izuku's been quite active."_**

But he hadn't sensed any notable changes in her vitals until the birth when all of them dropped straight to chaos.

 _Stupid, stupid, stupid, 200 years of knowledge and experience and even that isn't enough to save the only life he's wanted to help since his brother-_

When Izuku was born, Inko's eyes closed.

"Hisashi will take care of him," she had thought to herself, not knowing he could hear everything.

He frantically summons the few non-self healing quirks he has in his arsenal as he shoved away the frantic doctors. Why hadn't he collected more for this scenario? How could he have so many quirks and it still not be enough-

The heart monitor slowly tapered to a flat line.

* * *

 **"HAS THE GOVERNMENT GONE TOO FAR? MIDORIYA HISASHI, PHILANTHROPIC DONOR TO THE POPULAR QUIRK COUNSELING INITIATIVE, UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR UNKNOWN REASONS"**

* * *

 **"INVESTIGATED FOR...DOING TOO MUCH GOOD? THE SCOOP ON THE SHADOWY HISTORY OF PHILANTHROPIST HISASHI MIDORIYA."**

* * *

The media had been on the Midoriya's side.

Hisashi had the sympathy of everyone after losing his wife to an unforeseen complication at birth. It didn't hurt that he also signed the checks for quite a few news organizations. The public was outraged at the government's hunt over a man who, by their knowledge, had only been supporting an organization that helped struggling families understand and develop their quirks.

No one could really pin on him that the organization was a great asset to his true quirk, providing him ample information on any quirk he may potentially want to add to his collection.

A lie detector quirk was no use against someone who had a quick mind and a whole arsenal of quirks to nullify such things. The government had been quick to back off from his affairs from the public backlash alone. He didn't doubt they were still monitoring his identity as Hisashi Midoriya, but he was sure to always keep two steps ahead.

The stakes had grown higher than ever now that he had a _child_.

Izuku was doing well. Despite the complications Inko had, he was born with a healthy weight and had hit all his developmental milestones on time, if not early.

The one-year-old was happily babbling from his seat in the kitchen as he waved his hands to float Hisahi's pen from his grasp and towards the baby seat. The child's bright green eyes were wide in both concentration and marvel at his ability to change his environment with just a wave of his hand. Izuku waved harder, causing the pen to come flying towards him with double the speed it had before.

Hisashi easily activated one of his own quirks - metallokinesis - to veer the pen from it's original trajectory and do a u-turn back to his hand.

"Careful, Izuku," he reprimanded. Izuku looked at him in betrayal, but it didn't take long for the child's eyes to wander elsewhere. Izuku waved his hands towards the kitchen knife.

Midoriya Hisashi had a feeling nullification quirks were going to be his new favorite area of research.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ah, Mr Bubaigawara! Welcome back."

Her words were filled with surprise, but Aida tried to bury it under the best smile she could muster. Jin Bubaigawara had been one of those patients that she had mentally pegged as non-compliant off the bat; he was almost like a junkie, addicted to using his quirk for anything and everything despite her warnings.

He had been coming to their sessions less and less over the years, with their last session being over a year ago. Jin was convinced he didn't need any "quirk counseling" because he felt he had reached the pinnacle of his ability. He was able to double himself into a formidable army of clones, and that was all he really needed. The young man had stormed out when she pleaded for him to see a psychologist regarding the manner in which he treated his clones who were, in essence, himself. He had marched out of the room, head held high while declaring he could do whatever the hell he wanted with his clones.

Now, Jin appeared much more subdued, eyes sunken with fatigue and head half-bowed as he entered the room to take his usual seat. Aida pulled out his old file on her computer as she sat, flicking through the information as a refresher. "So," she begain, "how have-"

"Look, let's cut to the chase," Jin interrupted, slamming a hand onto her desk. "I think I lost my quirk."

Aida startled, but quickly got herself together. "Since when have you been having problems with your quirk?

"A week ago...the clones and I...we were having a disagreement." Jin frowned as he recalled the memory. "This time it got bad...we started throwing punches and I think one of them knocked me out. But when I woke up, I was alone. I tried to make another clone afterwards but nothing. Nada. Zilch."

As if to prove it, Jin put one arm to his arm with his face scrunched in concentration. He stayed there for a brief moment as Aida was vigorously taking notes, then crumpled back to a slouch on his seat.

"See? And now...it got me wondering Ms. Aida...what if I'm a defective clone or something? Sometimes, when I clone a clone again and again they aren't as strong, ya'know? Maybe that's why I can't do it anymore. I've been trying to check..." Jin seem lost in thought, but then, in the blink of an eye, his lips curled into a snarl as he began to claw at his neck, chanting, "LOOK! I can bleed. I can bleed. I must be real, I can bleed!"

"Mr. Bubaigawara! Please stop!"

Aida was quick to hit the security button and moved to restrain her patient. She cursed as she struggled to pry Jin's hands away from himself. If he was lucky, this psychotic break was probably an underlying cause of his quirk struggles. If he wasn't lucky, then Jin would be Aida's third case of the recently increasing phenomena of "quirk regression." Either way, the man was very overdue on some counseling for both his quirk and the fragile state of his psyche.

* * *

Hisashi is sure the world was paying him back 200 years of karma, all in the form of a little boy whose first word was "hee-ro!"

In hindsight, he probably shouldn't have let the child watch so much propaganda-laden news alongside him and instead stuck to more banal, standard children's media with anthropomorphic singing animals. Izuku's media diet had been a choice of efficiency more than anything; he had to keep up to date with the latest news tidbits and Izuku loved to stay glued to him at all times. By the time he realized his mistake, it was too late. Izuku was absolutely enchanted by the idea of heroes. And of course, his favorite had to be that hero.

All Might.

The number one hero who possessed a quirk with an unprecedented amount of power and flexibility of use. Undoubtedly, the hero was the next successor to his brother's legacy. He had unfortunately gotten to the last user too late to end the lineage. All Might admittedly wielded the quirk far better than his predecessors, and, although they had not personally clashed yet, Hisashi had a feeling the man would be an especially bothersome thorn on his side in the future.

Hisashi wasn't particularly looking forward to putting down yet another of his brother's successors. He already had enough of a handful, balancing both a criminal empire and a child with arguably the most dangerous quirk of them all.

Since Izuku's birth, he had already suspected the boy may have his quirk. All for One was not a kind quirk. It was a vicious ability that ripped the very genetics from every individual cell of its victim. While it showed few physical signs in its wake, the process itself tended to intensely drain the victim. His first had died as well.

He had privately sent for Inko's remains to be exhumed and tested for confirmation of his theory. The lab had personally called him a month later as they were truly dumbfounded by the results. Midoriya Inko's quirk factor was missing for no apparent reason. That same lab ended up destroyed as collateral damage in a villain attack the next month. He couldn't have tattletales after all, and scientists always tended to ask too many questions.

But the confirmation brought about a realization to Hisashi. Now he also had a legacy. He was not intending to die anytime soon though. He did not want his legacy to be as bloody as his brother's. He wanted Izuku to thrive alongside him for the foreseeable future, just as he had wanted for his brother before the idiot put himself under the government's thumb to lead their crusade for quirk regulation.

He hoped that Izuku would be wiser. Izuku had more of his own genetics after all. But already, Izuku had been showing signs of cripplingly lawful morality.

"Izuku, if you could take any hero's quirk, what quirk would you take?" Hisashi had asked casually over their breakfast. Izuku, 5 years old at the time, had frowned at the question.

"None!" He had answered immediately. "They need their quirks to fight the bad guys. And stealing is bad!"

Hisashi moved to comfort Izuku with a pat on the head. "It's just pretend, Izuku. You don't have to worry about any of that. Just think of it as...what kind of quirk would you like to have, if you had a different quirk?"

"Oh!" Izuku brightened up at the change in phrasing. The boy enthusiastically proceeded in babbling about the merits of a dozen or more different quirks. Hisashi listened on with a smile on his face, but his eyes calculating.

Izuku was likely to rebel against the nature of All for One. Forcing it upon the boy may cause a rift in their relationship as it did with his brother. Perhaps he should take a more indirect approach of introducing Izuku to the benefit of All for One. The boy had a good mind for quirks and he didn't seem adverse to the idea of receiving a different quirk. He could work with that.

* * *

Izuku woke up on the morning of his 6th birthday with a throbbing headache. He had only let out a small groan, but that was apparently enough to alert his father and send him rushing into the room.

"Daaaad," he grumbled, clutching his head with both hands. "My head hurts."

A soothing cold hand was pressed to his forehead. "Nothing modern medicine can't fix," his dad had replied as Izuku was scooped out of bed by strong arms. Izuku buried his face against Hisashi's chest, mildly embarrassed because he was six now and still being carried, but finding comfort in it nonetheless.

After a dose of acetaminophen with breakfast on the couch, Izuku found himself curled with his head resting on his dad's lap. The TV was on, more as background noise than anything. Izuku wanted to watch - he really did - but his headache was having none of it. He's pretty sure his dad knows this, because Hisashi has been increasingly strict about his "consumption of biased government-backed news media glorifying rampant militarization under the disguise of heroism" or something along those lines. To be honest, Izuku didn't really understand everything his dad rambles about. His dad seemed to have a thing against heroes and the government, which made Izuku privately wonder if something happened involving the absence of his mother.

Inko was a pretty woman, eternally smiling from multiple photos strewn across the walls. It was hard to miss someone you haven't met, but the expression in his dad's eyes when the topic of Inko came up is enough to make Izuku feel the sense of loss. Her death was something that shook his father: the cornerstone of his life, the most unshakable man Izuku knew.

"HAVE NO FEAR! FOR I AM HERE!"

Izuku smiled, peaking at the TV to see the iconic yellow hair of his favorite hero. He thought: dad could stare down even All Might. This made him giggle, drawing Hisashi's attention.

"Feeling better, Izuku?" He asked, turning down the television.

Izuku was about to answer when his nose itched. He took a breath, trying to forestall the eventual sneeze, but it was no use. He reflexively closed his eyes and involuntarily sneezed, feeling an abnormal warmth come out of his nostrils.

When his eyes reopened, the couch was on fire. To his dad's credit, Hisashi does not even panic from the fire - his dad has a fire breathing quirk, does that mean he also has heat resistance? - and only lets out a contemplative "Oh."

* * *

"It's not unheard of," the counselor had said. "Multiple quirk inheritance is rare, but there have been an increasing number of similar cases lately as different quirks continue to mix genetically...It is odd that young Izuku's quirks seem unrelated to each other as in the usual case of a composite quirk..."

The counselor had made overtures to have further testing done on the circumstances of Izuku's quirk, but Hisashi had given a firm refusal. The government's authority could only stretch insofar as to document quirks. Hisashi pointedly warned against any further research into their affairs with the business card of his lawyer's office.

Izuku's second quirk was documented without further fuss and the boy was practically bouncing from excitement by the time the two left the office.

"Do you think I can breath fire from my mouth like you or only my nose? Because only the nose would be kinda lame. How far did I sneeze? Sorry about the couch...but dad! I can sneeze fire! How cool is that?"

"Very cool," Hisashi said for the fourth time that day. He had already caught Izuku trying to replicate the earlier event several times throughout the day, with varying levels of success. "We can try to test the limits of your quirk - safely and under supervision - when we get home. Let's not set the car on fire too. Does that sound good Izuku?"

A little abashed, Izuku replied "Y-yeah!"

* * *

Entry 7/15, Age 6

Quirk transfer process through a clone medium was a success. The clone was able to stay stable before, during, and after the transfer. Although the clone lost the transferred quirk, it appears my own copy of the quirk remains even after the clone reached its limit.

Theoretically, I may be able to transfer copies of the same quirk to myself this way to augment the impact of strengthening quirks. There may be a higher chance for mutations due to the nature of the "double" quirk creating clones that are less stable and powerful than the original. Further studies on mutagenic rates will have to be conducted on other subjects.

* * *

Katsuki really, really hated "Midoriya Izuku."

His teachers always tried to call that name in the beginning of the school year, but the kid never bothered to show up. As if he were too good for school like the rest of them. And everyone in the neighborhood always went on about "poor little Midoriya, losing his mother so early," even though the coward barely came out of his house to acknowledge their concern. And when he did, it was always in some fancy vehicle with tinted windows. What kind of shady rich ass shit was that?

Katsuki hasn't even seen this kid before and he hated him.

So of course his mother wanted him to come along to check up on the Midoriyas and "play nice." Like hell he would play nice to some stuck up asshole.

His protest was noted, but pointedly ignored as Mitsuki ended up wrangling Katsuki and flinging him over her shoulders like a sack of potatoes, only Katsuki struggled more like a sack of angry cats.

"Hush!" His mother hissed, the doorbell to the house already ringing. "You better behave if you want to keep your All Might collection."

"No! You wouldn't," Katsuki challenged.

"Wouldn't I?" Mitsuki replied dangerously. Their conversation was cut there by the door creaking open.

"U-um, h-hello?" Izuku called out, staring at the two guests.

Katsuki was promptly ignored as his mother began to practically coo over the other child.

"Oh! You must be Inko's son, Izuku! I've been meaning to meet you for a while but...well...we also wanted to give your family some space after...you know...but look at you! You're almost as tall as my Katsuki!"

Katsuki had used the distraction as an opportunity to flail off his mother's shoulder and roll down to the ground with a soft thump just in time for attention of the conversation to be shifted to him. Their eyes met and Katsuki reaffirmed to himself that Midoriya Izuku must die for having witnessed that embarrassment of a situation.

Before anyone could say anything further though, another figure emerged from the doorway.

"Izuku," the man said, disapproval evident in his voice, "I thought I've told you not to answer the door without me."

The other boy was quick to scurry back behind the figure. "Sorry," Izuku had replied, almost by reflex. Katsuki had a feeling the boy said that phrase a lot.

"Oh? Hisashi?" Mitsuki interrupted. "Do you remember me? I'm Bakugou Mitsuki, Inko used to have me over so we could commiserate our pregnancies together."

The corner of Hisashi's lips twitched, a ghost of a smile passing over his face. "Ah yes, you two were the bane of my tea collection. I apologize for losing touch, I've had my hands full as you can see."

She grinned, waving off his words. "Don't worry about it, it happens. We've just been a little worried and all since Izuku doesn't show up for school and we haven't seen you both around the neighborhood much..."

"He's home schooled," Hisashi said curtly.

"We figured," Mitsuki added hastily, not wanting to come off as rude. "But you know, it would be good for Izuku to socialize more with kids his age. Maybe he could come to the park sometime with us for a play date."

Izuku seemed to perk up at that idea, looking to his father expectantly. Katsuki, on the other hand, looked at his mother in horror at the idea.

"I'll think about it," Hisashi cautiously replied. "Izuku has been feeling a bit under the weather lately, but maybe when he feels better. You still have our number, I presume?"

"Ah, yes, another time then." Mitsuki gave Izuku a wide smile and a conspiratory wink. "I'm sure you and Katsuki-" she put a hand on her son's shoulder and squeezed in warning, "will get along well."

* * *

Entry 10/16, Age 6

Izuku is able to contain three quirks now with no apparent complications other than the initial headache after transference. From my own experiences, All for One does not seem to have an upper limit on quirk accumulation, but there may be both a physical and mental limitation set upon Izuku due to his age and incomplete brain development. However, the latter factor may help in adjusting to new quirks with the naturally higher plasticity of young brains.

Izuku believes into the lie that he simply has an extremely mutagenic quirk factor and is taking to the quirks like a fish to water as expected. There has been some scientific interest in studying Izuku's quirk factor, but that has easily been handled.

I will cautiously proceed with a quirk transference every three months to continue testing Izuku's limits. The other subjects have been unable to handle more than three before extreme mutations occurred, but Izuku has my full confidence.

* * *

Wrapped in two layers of jackets with a scarf, mittens, and earmuffs to top it up, Izuku was well protected from the elements. What he wasn't prepared for was Katsuki's apparent grudge against him.

As soon as the adults had given the group of kids some space, Katsuki had marched right up to him, curling his hand around his scarf to pull him in.

"Look," Bakugou had said, "I don't like you-"

"You don't even know me..." Izuku interrupted.

Bakugo snarled, "I don't need to or want to." And with that, he let go of Izuku and stomped off to the swings.

Dumbfounded, Izuku stared after him and unconsciously fiddled with his scarf to get it back to a more comfortable tightness around his neck. Another hand came up to tap his shoulder.

Turning around, Izuku saw another kid who was a little on the pudgy side with small red wings sprouting from his back. "Don't mind Kacchan," the boy said, "he's always like that."

"Always?"

"Always," the boy nodded solemnly. Then, he broke out in a grin. "But I'm Tsubasa Koumori. You can just call me Koucchan! My gramps works for your dad, so he told me I need to be extra nice to you."

"Oh...you don't have to," Izuku said, a little wary now after his encounter with Bakugou. But his attention soon turned to the boy's wings, an obvious quirk. "Can you fly?" He blurted out, unable to control his curiosity.

"A little," Tsubasa answered. His wings stretched outwards, then gave a few strong beats that allowed the boy to take off with a hop. Izuku let out a small gasp of excitement, and then, to Tsubasa's surprise, hopped right into the air with him to grasp his hands.

"Icanflytoo!" Izuku babbled. Tsubasa almost dropped out of the sky right then and there from pure surprise, but the wind gathering around the two of them made it incredibly easy to stay afloat. "Iusewindmanipulationandnotactualwings-but do the wings limit your movement? I wonder if it takes more stamina to use wings or to just generate wind for lift...i guess it may depend on the weather..."

"Um," Tsubasa gave Izuku's hands a little shake, "Can we get down first?"

It finally came to Izuku's attention that all the other kids gathered at the play area were now staring at them. Embarrassed, Izuku profusely apologized and lowered the two on the ground. "I'msosorry-I...I just get really excited about quirks." He rarely got to see them in person, after all.

"You're excited about my quirk?" Tsubasa said incredulously. "But yours is so much cooler!"

"Yeah!" Another kid echoed. "What even is your quirk?"

"Um...well, I actually have four..."

"What?" and "No way!" echoed around the kids, leading to an impromptu show and tell between all of them about their quirks. Izuku wished he had brought one of his notebooks to write down this treasure trove of new discoveries.

They may not think their quirks were great, but Izuku could think of at least a dozen applications for each of their quirks and didn't hesitate to heap both praise and questions onto everyone. The other kids seemed outright surprised at his genuine curiosity and praise, considering the other "strong" quirk user's attitude towards their quirks, but Izuku's good mood was contagious. Soon, an impromptu game of hide and seek - with quirks - broke out and Izuku was having the most fun he's had in a long while.

Bakugou looked on with disdain at all the weaklings gathering around Izuku like he was the best thing since quirks began appearing. He itched to put all of them in their place, but his mother's threats rang in the back of his head.

"Tch. Losers."

Meanwhile, Hisashi looked on from meters away with approval at his son's newfound following. It was inevitable that people would gravitate towards Izuku's power and charisma. Izuku was far too modest and kind to take full advantage of such attention now, but there was plenty of time to teach him.

* * *

A/N; please note i am playing it pretty loose w canon and whatever convoluted quirk facts they presented. quirks make very little sense scientific sense yolo

the children are using quirks at the park because the rules for quirk regulation tend to be pretty lax for kids. And it's not like Hisashi would actually let any law enforcement give them shit about it

Sorry if the pacing seems a little fast, I'm going to try to wrap up this childhood arc in the next chapter or two so we can get to more...fun...things (maybe not so fun for Izuku tho)


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn't strange for the government to specifically request him for a private case considering his meteoric rise to the position as number one hero. His services were inevitably going to be in high demand, and he was never one to turn down a call for help no matter how big or small. Unfortunately, the government's requests were never small.

Toshinori's stomach churned at the thought of his last collaboration with the Public Security Intelligence Agency. He had been part of a high stakes group mission to infiltrate China and rescue the Japanese nationals that had been kidnapped and smuggled away for their powerful quirks. The Chinese government had feigned ignorance on the matter and, had their mission not gone successfully, there had been talks of greater military retaliation. These were the types of nation-shaking missions he had to bear responsibility for as the government's number one hero. Because he was not only a hero, but a _military asset._

At first he had only rarely gotten these types of cases, maybe one every other year, but recently, the government was looking more and more towards quirk users to solve their problems. It had only been three months since the China operation, and now, the hero All Might found himself in the same round table meeting room all too soon.

"Thank you for coming, All Might." The minister of defense was the first to greet him upon his arrival. Itsunori Onodera was a familiar figure to Toshinori as his preferred point of contact with the government. The man reminded him of his sidekick as both had unbreakable poker faces as well as similar quirks that gave them glimpses of the future, but the two were - oddly enough - on bad terms. Sir had chosen to stay in the office today to wrap up other affairs.

"It's my pleasure," Toshinori replied with his trademark smile. The usual greetings and pleasantries were quickly exchanged among the other occupants of the room as well. Toshinori quickly noticed that among the occupants of the room, he was the only combat hero present. Among the other heroes he noticed were the mind hero, Vision, and Nezu, accompanied by the ever reclusive Eraserhead. It seemed as if this mission was yet again going to be a discreet operation.

"We'll begin then. As you may have noticed, the file in front of you contains the profile of the subject of our meeting today. We apologize for being unable to compile and send this information sooner, but we ask you to please review it now."

A pause was given for everyone to peruse the contents. Toshinori noticed that Nezu, who was sitting to his left, had frowned immediately upon opening the file. With a bad feeling in his gut, he turned his attention to his own file and flipped it open.

Staring at him was the happy face of a child with the most unruly hair he had ever seen.

 ** _Subject:_ **_Midoriya Izuku_

 ** _Age:_** _7_

 ** _Quirk:_ **_Quirk Genesis - Midoriya Izuku has shown an unprecedented range of quirk abilities that include, but are not limited to, telekinesis, generation of fire from most bodily orifices, wind manipulation, limited hydrokinesis, elasticity, accelerated regeneration, and muscle augmentation [See Appendix A for full documentation]. The boy has also been noted to regularly generate a quirk every 2-3 months with no known cause. Sometimes there is correlational concurrence of headache symptoms prior to the development of a new quirk. Moreover, the boy's current quirks seem to readily combine and mutate with each other._

 _Originally, the boy was thought to have a telekinetic quirk that was a mutation of his mother's quirk which had allowed her to attract small objects. Izuku's telekinetic quirk appeared to be a stronger version of this that allowed both push and pull of objects of varying sizes up to a 6 ft bookshelf per anecdotal observations. However, at the age of 6, the boy began manifesting a pyrogenesis quirk similar to his father and has since continued to manifest new quirks. There have been no notable correlations between the Midoriya family tree and the more recent quirk manifestations. All the manifestations fall under emitter or transformation quirks; he has not yet manifested a mutant-type quirk but the possibility cannot be discounted._

 _Unlike users of copy quirks, young Midoriya has been able to demonstrate use of multiple quirks such as combining his elasticity and muscle augmentation to jump at greater heights than using each of those properties individually._

 _The true limits of his quirk at the moment seem unfathomable. Further research is, unfortunately, limited due to lack of access and parental consent [See Appendix B]_

The file continued at length into a startling amount of detail on Izuku's personality, socialization, and the lengthy legal battle between Midoriya Hisashi and the government for the privacy of his son's amazing quirk. There was also an attached profile and image of the father. The family resemblance was uncanny; Izuku had inherited the same deep shade of green in both his hair and eyes. Midoriya Hisashi, on the paper, genuinely seemed like a concerned father, but Toshinori's stomach churned at the picture of the man's face. It was obviously familiar to him, giving him such a sense of foreboding he rarely felt at anything but the greatest of obstacles, and yet he couldn't recall where he had seen such a face before.

"As you can see, the boy you have read about has a truly groundbreaking quirk." Onodera's voice drew everyone's attention from the files once more. A low chorus of both agreement and disbelief rung out. Louder, the official continued, "Normally in these cases we would enroll such kids in a special program to help them better explore and manage their quirk responsibly. However, the senior Midoriya has fought tooth and nail against this, citing his own vast resources as sufficient for raising and training his child independently. This matter has already been taken to the highest of courts, and we unfortunately do not have much of a leg to stand on considering the precedent set by an earlier case with the hero Endeavor and his son."

"Excuse me!" Nezu hopped onto the table so he could be better seen. The tiny creature cleared his throat and fixed his eyes on Onodera. "I believe the senior Midoriya to be in the right in this case, considering the government's poor history of ethical oversight of such programs during the early age of quirks. Endeavor's case is nowhere near the first case to touch on these matters, and I doubt Midoriya's will be the last."

There was an edge to Nezu's voice that silenced the whole room at the not too subtle reminder of his own history. Onodera seemed ready to speak out against Nezu's outburst, but the small hero was quick to continue before he had the chance. "However! I believe there is more you have yet to tell us about this case. Obviously, I do not believe you have gathered us here to strong arm young Midoriya into anything. Yet there seems to be an unstated reason for the government's concern into the welfare of this young boy seperate from the nature of his quirk."

Onodera nodded. "That is the second part of this briefing. What you are about to be told is the reason each of you had to go through a security clearance before attending. The true purpose of this meeting is ascertaining Midoriya Izuku's connection to the villain known as All for One."

 _Crack!_

Toshinori's chair broke from just the speed at which he had stood up. His fists were clenched and every inch of his body seemed coiled up with a tension that was thick enough to choke the room into dead silence.

"For...For the less informed," Onodera started again, gathering himself together from the shock of All Might's reaction to that name alone. "All for One is a villain who has been wanted by the government for over a century. He has been implicated in a list of crimes far too long to go over in this meeting alone. We have not disclosed information about him to the public due to the possible consequences of fear and hysteria it may cause, but we have been on his trail for a long time. The reason he is so dangerous is not only due to his vast influence in the underground world, but also his quirk: the ability to steal and transfer other quirks."

Whispers erupted in the room; all at once there were accusations against keeping such information private, demands for further details, and conjecturing about the nature of his quirk. Rising above everyone else, All Might's voice drew the most attention. "What is young Midoriya's relation to All for One?"

"We aren't sure," was the immediate response. "Hisashi Midoriya has been suspected of having links to All for One in the past, but our previous investigation into him was unfruitful. Currently, we have three main theories. Firstly, there is the off chance that Midoriya Izuku's quirk is a completely unique mutation and is completely unrelated to the villain."

Toshinori found himself relaxing just a bit at that thought. The smile on the boy's picture had been genuine and innocent. It made him yearn for this optimal scenario, even if it meant the loss of their lead to his main nemesis.

"For our second theory, we think Midoriya Izuku could be someone to whom All for One is granting quirks as an experiment, though it is odd that they would be so public about registering his existence with the quirk registry. Last of all...there is the possibility that Midoriya is a blood relative of All for One, thus explaining his quirk, but we are unable to confirm this with any blood samples and are still looking into possible matches for victims who may have lost similar quirks. We have gathered you all today to get your insight into these theories and forge a plan of action."

The discussion only intensified from there on out. Half of the members of the meeting had been invited for their analysis, and those members were the most vocal in the debate on how to proceed. The other half were heroes with particularly relevant quirks who were here on standby, and they were more reserved in the discussion. Eraserhead was notably on the verge of falling asleep once the discussion started to turn away from any drastic confrontation and veer more towards surveillance.

Toshinori wished he had insisted harder with Sir about attending; the man was much better than him at analyzing these types of situations rationally. Toshinori could admit he himself was more a man of emotions. He honestly just wanted to see young Midoriya for himself and talk to the boy.

When he brought this up, everyone had just _stared_ at him.

"All Might, you don't have enough tact," Eraserhead had spoken up for the first time in the whole meeting because no one else seemed willing to jump to criticism of their favorite hero. "It would be highly suspicious for the number one hero to randomly show up in a district with the lowest crime rate around and personally talk to a single child." It was practically screaming to the villains that something was up.

"Ah...you...have a point," Toshinori conceded, visibly slumping.

"Perhaps we could work on increasing patrol in the area in general," someone else interjected. "Although Midoriya's quirk is not publicly known now, it is inevitable that the news will get around and he may be at risk if he is truly innocent. In that case, All Might would be one of the strongest choices for reacting to the developing situation quickly."

Eraserhead shot the person a _look_ with his bloodshot eyes, not quite activating his quirk but looking menacing nonetheless. It was obvious he disapproved of what he perceived to be pandering at play.

Regardless, the idea met with some approval and a few heroes including All Might were assigned an increased patrol range to keep an eye on the situation. Toshinori stayed fairly quiet during the rest of the meeting, his thoughts spinning between the words of his late mentor and the image of the boy.

 _"A true hero saves not only their lives, but also their spirits...that's what I believe."_

 _"The people in this world who can smile are always the strongest!"_

Toshinori did not know why, but he felt a deep instinct within him that protecting that boy's smile would be vital to this whole convoluted case.

* * *

Ever since his first park outing, Izuku felt like a butterfly emerging from his chrysalis. He hadn't fully realized how sheltered his life had been until then. He had been satisfied with his books, the television, and his dad being the center of his universe. And those things still largely consumed his life. The difference was that now his universe was expanding and encompassing bright new interests like his friends, his neighbors, the internet, and so much more.

Recently, Izuku would start his mornings with a jog. He felt pride that his dad entrusted him to take care of himself in these runs alone with only a cellphone in hand. The morning route took him through the local shopping district and the train station. If he was lucky, he would catch some of his friends on their way to school. Izuku never made consistent plans to walk with them as he got far too distracted on his route, but it was nice to occasionally catch up with them outside of their usual weekend meetup at the park.

There was never a shortage of interesting events and friendly faces in his mornings. Hero sightings were more common than Izuku expected. The first time he had spotted a hero, his dad had scolded him on using nearly half of his phone's memory by frantically taking pictures. He had considerably calmed his reaction to heroes since then, but he could never resist snapping at least one photo to review for later analysis. Quirk analysis, thankfully, was something his dad did encourage.

The green haired, doe-eyed boy was becoming a common and welcomed sight around the area. Izuku was alway eager to step in to help whenever anyone asked, and even when they didn't. It had all started with helping Mrs. Kitagawa adjust her restaurant's overhead sign after he had noticed it knocked down by the latest villain attack. The old shop owner had been lamenting about how long it took for damage claims to be processed by the local hero agency and Izuku had been wanting to test the maximum weight his wind quirk could carry. She had been so impressed by the display that she had turned a blind eye to the blatant public quirk usage and invited him in to chat over a plate of baked goods.

His dad had ended up picking him up at the shop much later because Izuku had been far too invested in their conversation about her quirk - sticky fingers, much like those of a gecko - and her life as a former hero manager to check his phone. Izuku was only slightly repentant for his lateness, distracting his father instead with the discovery that he could breathe out steam just as easily as fire which combined so well with his wind manipulation in creating powerful updrafts. In the end, his dad had forgiven him, as he usually did, but in exchange, Izuku was saddled with a new phone that had an ungodly loud ringtone which only grew worse the longer he waited to answer.

Word spreaded fast about the sweet wonderchild on the block. It wasn't that people particularly wanted to ask a child for help, but Izuku always somehow got involved and helped anyways with just the right quirk for the situation.

Izuku's busy mornings were always followed by a packed afternoon of studies and quirk training. His dad was a strict taskmaster, drilling into him that he needed both a strong mind and a strong body to handle a strong quirk like his own. Contrary to the disbelief of his friends, this was possibly Izuku's favorite time of day.

His dad was the only person Izuku knew who shared his love of quirks, and he was a treasure trove of information and ideas. In the safety of their reinforced basement training room, they tested Izuku's new quirks with the gusto of two kids in a candy store.

 ** _(( "How do you always know everything," Izuku had asked one day after his dad had, yet again, correctly predicted the outcome of their latest quirk experiment._**

 ** _"Science," Hisashi had replied at first._**

 ** _And then as Izuku repeated the same question day after day, his answers grew more ridiculous. "It's my quirk," he replied the next time, face completely deadpan._**

 ** _"Dad!...is it really?"_**

 ** _"No, I am actually just a 200 year old quirk researcher."_**

 ** _"You're not that old!" ))_**

By the end of the day, if Izuku wasn't completely worn out, the two would curl up on the couch and watch something out of the old stash of animated movies belonging to his mom. They were old classics, his dad had explained, made during a time before the era of quirks and heroes. Still, the settings of the movies could be just as fantastical as their quirk filled world today and the messages of love and friendship central to each one was timeless. When he watched these movies, he felt he understood his mother just a little better.

As much as Izuku liked the humor and action of "Mulan," his favorite had ended up being "Lilo and Stitch." Lilo was his kindred spirit and Stitch gave him hope that even _Kacchan_ could turn a new leaf and become friends with him.

And really, when it came down to it, Izuku just loved his small sphere of family and friends. It was little and maybe a bit broken, but still good.

* * *

The people around him were changing, and Katsuki hated it.

His so called friends were growing distant and even people he had deemed useless nobodies were now daring to challenge him, trying to protest that _no, their quirk was not useless - Izukkun had said so!_

And Katsuki was forced to reconcile with the humiliation that Slimeball, the kid everyone had made fun of, had embraced his moniker and managed to trap him in a sticky mess that took him _forever_ to escape. And everyone had left him there, not even bothering to look back. Katsuki had felt more livid than ever before that day, but he also felt something else that he refused to acknowledge.

Katsuki much rather preferred to dwell on his anger and the root cause of his anger. Izuku had also grown bold over time, treating him so casually when he had no right to do so. Katsuki just wanted to punch the other boy in the face every time he caught the creepy kid staring at him from afar, All Might collection be damned.

The two of them had come through a mutual, silent agreement over the years to avoid each other and that was literally the only thing saving Katsuki's collection.

Except one day, Izuku broke that agreement and came right up to Katsuki in his usual spot in the woods to show him a piece of paper.

Bakugo stared at the paper Izuku was holding up, not knowing exactly what to make of it. It was a figure with spiked hair and teeth - was that supposed to be him? - and the figure was colored almost completely red. On the bottom corner of the paper, there was a key of some sort.

"This is your badness level, Kacchan." Izuku explained, pointing to the top of the red area. "It's unusually high for someone your size."

Bakugou snatched the sheet of paper from the other boy's hands, crumpling it in his hand. "Just what are you trying to say here you piece of shit?! Are you _trying_ to pick a fight with me?"

Izuku was already up in the air laughing, far out of Katsuki's explosion range. "Do you want me to, Kacchan?" He asked.

"Better than fucking running away all the time!"

"Your mom would be mad if we fought," Izuku pointed out. "You could always chase me, but you never do. Are you sure you really want to fight?"

"I want to put you in your goddamn place," Katsuki shouted back, palms sparking. The paper was already on fire.

"Huh, so you do have a fire resistance factor as part of your quirk...I always thought you did, but I wasn't sure until now."

He was muttering again, much to Katsuki's annoyance. "What are you even going on about now?"

Izuku jerked back to attention, then fixed his gaze on Bakugou again, green eyes sparkling with mischief. "Hey, Kacchan, do you think you could use your explosions to fly?"

Katsuki was surprisingly silent for once. There was a brewing conflict within him because on one hand, that would be fucking cool, but on the other hand, he would be taking advice from _Midoriya Izuku_ of all people.

"It would be hard to get your balance at first, but you would definitely gain a lot of maneuverability and speed," Izuku continued. "Since you want to be a combat-type hero, aerial ability would boost your profile a lot. And you prefer fighting in close quarters, so it would let you close distances easier."

Really it's so obvious that Izuku is sure Katsuki would have figured it out for himself eventually, but he couldn't help but speak his thoughts out loud when he got excited.

"Shut. Up."

Izuku does not shut up. Instead, he says, "I'll help!"

Before Katsuki can even shout that he doesn't need anyone's fucking help, he felt an invisible force pulling him straight up in the air. And just as quickly as it came, it left.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME," he screamed, automatically firing up his quirk to stop his fall. His body jerked once again; he had applied far too much pressure far too quickly and at a bad angle to boot. But just before he was about to be sent hurtling to a tree, he felt a pull on his body that stabilized him in the air.

"Izuku, when I get to you, you are _dead_!"

And just like that, Bakugou started to experiment with his explosion output to propel himself toward Izuku with varying levels of success. Neither of them commented on how Izuku occasionally stepped in to prevent any unfortunate crashes, and Izuku knew better than to give the proud Katsuki any other advice.

Really, Izuku didn't say much of anything for the rest of the day because _holy shit did Kacchan just call him by his actual name for once._

* * *

"I think I understand Kacchan better now," He said to Tsubasa days later as he caught the other boy on the way to school. "I think violence and threats are the only way he knows how to communicate."

"Izukkun, _what did you do?_ "

"I pretended to try to kill him and then he tried to kill me and now I think we are friends," Izuku positively beamed with satisfaction.

"He tried to chase after me in the air yesterday, at school," Tsubasa accused. "You've created a monster."

Izuku hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe that's his way of saying he wants to be friends with you again." The two boys had been on bad terms since Tsubasa's "betrayal" in hanging out with Izuku and they had largely avoided each other as well. Tsubasa had learned for Izuku that it was easier to just take advantage of his mobility and flee rather than put up with Bakugou's bullshit.

Tsubasa seemed to consider that. Then, a bit quieter, he replied, "I'm not sure I still want to be friends with him. I never said it, but I don't like him being mean to everyone."

"You don't have to," Izuku pointed out, "but I think everyone deserves a second chance, even Kacchan. Plus, I have a theory that as he grows up, his badness level will become more proportional to his size."

"Izukkun, you're _weird_ ," Tsubasa said, and then hastily added, "but a good weird, I guess."

"It's because my humor is over a hundred years old," Izuku replied solemnly. He saw the confused look on his friend's face and quickly switched gears. "Sorry bad joke. By the way, Koucchan, I've always wondered...wouldn't it be uncomfortable for you to sit at a normal desk in school since you can't retract your wings at all?"

"Oh!...yeah, a little. Sometimes I get a special desk but most of them usually break because of other students by the end of the year and the school doesn't have money for new ones."

Izuku wrinkled his face in disgust. "That sounds awful."

Tsubasa nodded, "You're lucky, Izukkun. I wish I could be homeschooled."

"I always thought school sounded cooler," Izuku admitted.

" _Hero_ school is cool. But that's only for high school. We're not even supposed to use our quirks in school right now."

"Lame," they both agreed as they approached their departure point at the train station. Just as they were exchanging farewells, Tsubasa noticed that Izuku had suddenly turned stiff and alert. When he asked what was wrong, the boy shakily raised his finger toward a figure in the distance. Tsubasa turned around and immediately understood everything.

"Is that All Might?!"

* * *

Hisashi's phone buzzed for the third time today. Another hero sighting from Izuku probably. They were growing more frequent lately and he wasn't foolish enough to think it was a coincidence. Izuku, Hisashi mused, was one of his best inadvertent spies who never failed to notice the activities and patrol patterns of all local heroes. Everyone around would freely pass on any information they heard to the boy, knowing about his interest in the subject.

He opened his phone.

"I SAW ALL MIGHT AGAIN!" The message read. Attached was a hastily taken snapshot of the horizon with a blur of yellow and blue in the distance.

"Don't forget to be home by noon," he texted back.

Izuku probably didn't even suspect that has favorite hero's frequent visits were inspired by his own existence. "You've certainly reeled in a big one, Izuku," Hisashi said to himself. Perhaps _too_ big. His son had an admiration for the hero that could easily be taken advantage of, and as his father, he had a duty to protect him from such situations by any means necessary.

* * *

Toshinori knows he shouldn't be doing this. He's an adult now, a professional hero, not a fresh U.A. student who let his curiosity get the best of him. And yet here he is, half hidden behind a signpost just to try to catch a better glimpse of a child.

The boy was animatedly talking to an elderly woman while effortlessly carrying at least 4 bags of goods for her. His companion seemed embarrassed at first, but then Izuku put on _that smile_ , it was far too contagious for her to resist. Even Toshinori felt himself warmed by the scene.

From just watching the boy's interactions with everyone who passed him, it was obvious Midoriya Izuku had the good regard of the locals and easy to see why. He had the innocence and excitability of a child his age, but paradoxically, he carried himself with a sense of selflessness and maturity beyond his years.

Satisfied with his observations for the day, Toshinori turned to head back towards his usual route, but had to quickly pull back to avoid hitting an unexpected presence from behind. Dressed in an immaculate black suit with green hair that was much more tamed than his son, there was no mistaking who this figure was.

Shit.

Toshinori had taken some care to come in civilian clothing with One for All turned low to reduce his form to that of a less bulging appearance, but despite these precautions, the man's cold, sharp green eyes seemed to pierce through his disguise and send shivers to his very core.

"Imagine," Hisashi drawled, "the scandal that would erupt if the media found out that All Might, the beloved hero of children everywhere, was actually just another child predator."

"I'm not- It's not-"

"Of course, you could easily deny that. But you can't deny that you were here, on camera might I add, hiding in the shadows and staring intently at an 8-year-old child. Suspicious, isn't it? The media does love to speculate."

Toshinori subconsciously took a step backwards and found himself pressed against the metal of the very post he had been trying to hide behind. There was no way to verify the man's threat of a recording, but he didn't doubt that the man's threats were serious. Unsure of how to respond, he ended up saying the first thing that came to his mind.

"I'm only trying to look out for his safety!"

Hisashi looked at him incredulously. "Ignoring your insult to my capacity to look after the safety of my own child, I must inform you that you are a _threat_ to my child more than anything."

All Might was visibly shocked by the venom in the father's words. "How am I a threat?" He couldn't help but ask.

"You mean you don't realize the effect you have on children, mister number one hero? They look up to you. Idolize you. Want to be like you and become heroes themselves. Except heroics is, quite frankly, a horrible career for self preservation."

Now it was All Might's turn to be incredulous. On some level, he understood the concern, but to blame him for inspiring heroism in the next generation? He had never even heard of such a complaint before.

He was saved from having to respond when a new voice entered the conversation. "Dad! What are you doing here?"

Izuku had somehow spotted them and approached while they were absorbed in their talk. The boy looked at his dad and then looked at the other man. His eyes widened. "Is that...are you…"

Toshinori suddenly felt very self conscious about his disguise. It usually worked so well for avoiding the press because the fact that he augmented his muscle density with his quirk was nearly unknown. Everyone was blinded by their expectations of the hulking figure of All Might that no one tended to notice him in his leaner form with his bangs hanging down to frame his face. He had even added glasses and a hat for extra safety, but it seemed to be doing him no good today.

"Dad, why are you talking to All Might?!"

"I was just advising him regarding some legal matters," Hisashi said lightly. He put a hand for Izuku's shoulder, signaling that he wanted the both of them to leave. "You'll find the appropriate paperwork filings forwarded to your office tomorrow."

Izuku did not move, and instead whined, "Dad, wait! I have so many questions I want to ask All Might about his quirk!"

" _Izuku_."

"Ah...maybe another time, young Midoriya," All Might said cautiously, barely just recovering from his internal panic at Hisashi's implied legal threat. He made a split second decision to pull out his business card from his belt and held it out to the young man. "I would be happy to answer any questions you might have."

The boy just stared at the card, wide eyes filled with marvel because not only was All Might talking to him, he possibly knew _his name_ was offering his contact information o _h my god was he dreaming._

And then Hisashi sneezed, setting fire to the aforementioned card.

"Sorry," Hisashi said flippantly, "must be my allergies."

" _Dad you don't have allergies,_ " Izuku choked out, because what even is his life right now.

"We're going home now, let's not bother All Might any further." He said this with a tone of finality that managed to get Izuku moving.

"It's really no bother," Toshinori quipped, but he was ignored by Hisashi who had already herded Izuku back towards the main street. Izuku took one last look over his back at All Might, gave a tentative smile, and then turned back away to rejoin his father.

* * *

A/N: So i actually had this chapter like a week ago on my AO3 account but forgot to upload it here oops

For extra pics and memes featured for this chapter please find this story on ArchiveOfOurOwn instead, it reads so much better because ff.n is lame and does not allow me to post images

Thanks for reading, any feedback/comments are appreciated :)


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